The day started out like any other. OK, not quite. We were up and in the vans by 5:45 (those of us who accepted the challenge to get up in the middle of the night) and off to Yavapai Point to watch the sunrise.

Then it was back to the vans and back to the rooms to pack and have our luggage out by 8:00.

Once we had our suitcases squared away we headed to the lodge for breakfast, returning to our room in goodly time to relax a bit before Randy joined a conference call with Ireland bank. That business was quickly handled and we were off – shuttle bus to the Visitor Center and a walk along the rim back to the village.

The rim trail has “age markings” – 10 milllion years per step. Along the way they have samples of rocks laid down at the appropriate age marking along with spotting scopes pointed to the actual rock formations along the north wall of the canyon. It was a great way to illustrate the time span covered during the building of the canyon.

Arriving at the Village we stopped first at Hopi House – another of Ann Coulter’s creations.

We stopped to pick up lunch at Bright Angel Lodge and took the short walk to Maswick Lodge to meet our group and board the vans for the next leg of our journey.

Along the way we stopped in the town of Williams where we traded our two “airport shuttle” vans for three nine-passenger vans. Apparently the next stage of our journey was to require a different sort of transportation.

Another hour down the road found us on the old Route 66 at the Grand Canyon Caverns. The motel is a mid-century structure, lovingly (if uniquely) cared for. The owner is somewhat of a character with enough time and creativity on his hands to create something truly unique.

We dropped our bags in our rooms and headed off to the cavern where we enjoyed a guided tour. This is one of the largest dry caves in the world. That means there are no stalactites or stalagmites, no humidity (other than what the visitors bring with them), no bacteria or bugs; it’s a pretty sterile environment. Thru the years there have been several marketing efforts to boost visits.

Following dinner we adjourned to their conference room (The Betty Boop Room) for a lecture by ethnobotanist Carrie Calisay Cannon.

A member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma Cannon works for the Hualapai tribe administering a number of projects and programs that promote the intergenerational teaching of Hualapai ethnobotanical knowledge. That means she works with kids and elders to bring back knowledge, preparation, and use of plants used by the ancestral Hualapai. Along the way she has seen that you can’t talk about plants with their Hualapai names without bringing other language elements to bear. It was a fascinating talk.

Then it was off to bed. Long day. Tomorrow will be no less interesting but perhaps not so long.

Till then, TTFN